PMHS Alum Makes Interviewing Robots

Alex Reben, a Patchogue-Medford High School 2003 graduate from Patchogue, has created a robot that can interview other people named "BlabDroid."

Reben, who recently appeared on Patch sister site Huff Post Live, said that his creation has been going around and interviewing people at the Tribeca Film Festival. The interviews were put together into a documentary shown on Sunday, Reben said in the Huff Post Live interview.

These robots will not be supplanting reporters as of yet, as Reben said that they actually run off of a script.

"We actually don't want the robots to be too smart, because if they were to reply to your answer in a very smart way you might find them judgmental," Reben said.

Reben said that people have been responding to them in a introspective way, and that in a way the robots can get responses that a person on a street with a camera could not get.

A Kickstarter to support the further design and development of the BlabDroid is also ongoing with a $75,000 goal that has raised around $4,000 as of this writing.

A short version of Reben's discussion with Huff Post Live can be viewed by clicking here and a full version can be found by clicking here.